Removing the plastic end caps was the first task. They appear to be made of some kind of acrylic which sent chards all over the workshop when hit with a mallet and chisel.

One side was quite a bit larger than the other which is too small at the moment to go in the expanding jaws of the chuck.

Once mounted on the lathe and at a very slow speed (360rpm) the slight bias of the bowl is evident in the video

The parting tool worked better than I expected, although the colour of the shavings threw me a bit. Yellow shavings from a dark brown wood.

The parting tool got me down down to about 3/4" of the centre. With only a slight fraying at the sides. I did widen the cut as I went deeper.

Finished the cut with the tenon saw.

2 halves

I read a number of articles that suggested that scraping LV was easier than using a gouge so a 1/2" scraper was used throughout.

I wanted to keep the outside as original as possible and this particular wood had plenty of cracks and a markers mark.

I also wanted to keep the base as original as possible, so mounted on the button jaws I just cleaned up the recess a bit.

I need to improve the finish on the next one. Not sure if the marks here (the one on the right) are from streaks in the sanding sealer or from the tool.

I will have to source some cellulose thinners to thin the sealer next time.

I shall have a go at the other half later. When mounted on the button jaws I should be able to expand the recess easy enough without losing too much of the engravings.

Thoughts and comments welcome.

cheers

Andy

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Nice work, but I always have a slight personal problem with turning when the amount of shavings show just how much of the original piece of wood is waste in the process. I am sure that the person who donated them will really appreciate your work Andy. Do you plan to turn them all into bowls, or are there other plans for some of the others?

Terry, yes I sympathise with you concerns about the waste of wood. The more common use of old woods is to make a mallet but there is a limited market amongst family and friends for those. Not quite sure what else I can do with them. If, when, I ever get a bandsaw I could slice them up for pens.

The woods came from by father's bowls club which was forced to close last year. They have not been used for years and actually did not belong to anybody. I "blagged" them on the basis that I would use them for turning and the club president ( my father ) was happy with that.

They are probably only worth between £5-£10 each.

cheers

Andy

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if images are not visible on my posts it is because Photobucket withdrew their free hosting service. I will reload images to the most recent threads in due course. Please drop me a PM if you would like to see anything before then

If you want to put anything onto LV then you will need to clean it off with methylated spirits, thinners or the like as it is an oily wood to work with the same applies if you want to glue it.The bowls are nicely turned Andy just need to get the finish done nicely

Thanks Derek, I did give it a wipe with white spirit as I do not have meths, will have to find some meths for the next time.

Forgot to mention that that both the parting tool and scarper got coated with resin if I went above 360rpm. And the sand paper clogged very fast as well. Have since learned that using the sandpaper wet might help.

cheers

Andy

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With very sharp tools you should be able to get a great finish without having to use sand paper. I did forget to say about paper clogging up sorry Andy LV makes great spinning tops, I have got a ball already cut to pen blank size idea present for those who play bowls And yes I have made the carving mallet and still have 4 balls left to play with.

Andy, I think they look great, and I love the idea that these have had a previous life, mitigates against the waste wood/shavings problem in my view. I like that the outside, left as it was and the inside is all new. I have a thick old broken oar that is at least a century old and I have also wondered what to do with it...

Dan0741 wrote:Andy, I think they look great, and I love the idea that these have had a previous life, mitigates against the waste wood/shavings problem in my view. I like that the outside, left as it was and the inside is all new. I have a thick old broken oar that is at least a century old and I have also wondered what to do with it...

Many thanks Dan, that is certainly the look and feel that I am after. I just need to improve the finish on the inside.

I'll put my thinking cap on for that oar.

cheers

Andy

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Just finished a pair from a different wood and sent them off to my father for his birthday.

One of the nice things about working with lignum vitae is that the sawdust is so heavy and oily it does not float around in the air at all.

cheers

Andy

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Dalboy wrote:A fantastic finish on those Andy well turned and I like the way you have left the marks on the outside

Thanks Derek,. As well as the markers mark on the side there is a date stamp, size and a reference to the level of bias, all on the base but quite difficult to pick out in the photos

cheers

Andy

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Thanks, I took more time with the finish on these two and it pays. Finished with a thinned sanding sealer then buffed with the chestnut white compound and carnuba wax.

cheers

Andy

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Dalboy wrote:How are you getting along with the buffing system Andy plenty of fluff floating around

Yes it is quite alarming and a lot of the fluff got caught on the carved patterns on those bowls. I am not at all sure that I am putting the right amount of compound on the wheels to start with. For example should wheel C be discoloured by the carnuba wax?And quite how does one judges how much of the white to put on?I have not even started with wheel A and the brown stuff.

Like so many things plenty of trial and error required

cheers

Andy

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With the brown it is an abrasive and cleans the piece it appears to polish it. just apply enough to discolour the mop after that just top up prior to doing a fresh piece of turning.The white is to clean off any residual of the brown again you don't need much hard to tell on the mop just how much you have applied as it does not discolour the mop like the brown and the wax.The canuba wax again just enough to colour the mop.After a while you will get use to how much of each to suit yourself.

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